


Unconditional

by teddysheeranfics



Category: Ed Sheeran (Musician)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-09 10:23:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3246152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teddysheeranfics/pseuds/teddysheeranfics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed begins a new chapter by proposing to his girlfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> I've posted a prequel to what I originally had as a one chapter one shot (titled Unconditional) 
> 
> It now has two parts and they are in order and titled appropriately. Thanks for reading! Enjoy :)

The first day of the rest of their lives began with a purple Post-It note. 

Anna slapped her hand down on the alarm, feeling paper under her fingertips as she did. At first she ignored it and rolled over, sighing once she felt Ed’s side of the bed cold and vacant. With a yawn and a stretch of her arms she sat up, looking over to the clock and smiling at the purple message. 

‘Today is the first day of the rest of your life,’ she reached over and peeled it off, staring down at it in her lap. 

Although she knew Ed was always up for games, she had never seen him do something like this and it intrigued her. She carried on with her morning, going to run the shower and finding yet another note stuck to the inside of the stall. 

‘I love you more than I love marinating,’ Anna laughed at that one, smiling so wide she had to cover her mouth, putting the soggy pink Post-It note flat on the bathroom counter to dry; she planned on saving that one. 

Ed was creative, that much was obvious, and Anna adored the way he incorporated his creativity into little things like that. Her past boyfriends hardly flinched at the thought of saying ‘I love you’ and here Ed was writing it on a sticky note, comparing their love to him naked and wrapped up in a bath towel; Ed’s own made-up term for the act being ‘marinating’, as if he were a piece of meat soaking in a bowl of barbecue sauce. Anna knew she must be loved then, since each morning Ed showered he’d sit there for a minimum of an hour, swaddled tightly in his over sized white towel, hair wet and matted to his face, smiling like a kitten with its face buried in a bowl of fresh food.

Anna didn’t find the next note until she went through the closet to pick out clothes for the day, seeing the small tab of pink paper sticking out between articles of clothes. The corners of her mouth pulled upward and she reached forward, pushing the clothes out of the way to peel the note off. 

 

‘I love you like the color red,’ it stated, appropriately attached to one of her favorite red dresses. 

Ed first saw her in it during the Grammy awards, her buying the dress for the occasion. She’d done her hair out, curling it ever-so-slightly at the tips, letting it fall in loose chestnut waves from past her shoulders. 

After getting dressed she grabbed her phone from the end table in their bedroom. 

“What’s with all the lovely messages?” she wrote, sat on the bed amongst the unmade sheets, chewing her thumbnail through a smile. 

She knew he was in the studio, and it surprised her that he had been so quiet placing them around so carefully and considerately to not wake her in the process. As she recalled, she did remember hearing a thump and a hiss in the dark, but she was too much in a deep sleep to see that it was Ed stumbling around, having stubbed his toe on the wall on his way to the bathroom. 

“You’ll see,” he texted back, “just keep collecting them xx.” 

Anna was anxious to see what else he’d written, so she tied her hair up in a wet messy bun, not bothering to put any makeup on or brush her teeth until after she had her morning coffee. 

Ed hadn’t told any of his friends what he’d been planning, figuring he wanted the moment to be on his own terms and no one else’s. After Anna had sent him the first text he continued his recording session with a smile, checking his phone every couple minutes when he had a break. 

The only person he did confront about his plan was his father. He knew he could always count on his dad to give him good advice, and when it came to something like a marriage proposal, he knew he needed his father’s guidance. The first thing he asked his son was if the two had discussed marriage at any point in their relationship, and of course they had, both of them wanting practically the same things, just not yet. Ed was nervous that he might be moving too quickly, but he knew she was the one. 

John advised his son that he should go the traditional route and talk to Anna’s parents as well, and Ed agreed that he would, having to swallow back the lump in his throat when he invited them out to lunch a week before he decided to propose. 

Anna’s father, Joe was someone Ed was incredibly nervous to meet at first. Normally he was perfectly fine with meeting his girlfriend’s parents, but after hearing some of the horror stories Anna told about her past boyfriends and her father scaring them off, he was quite apprehensive about the day they would meet. Of course it would turn out that Ed was welcomed in warmly by he and his wife, and they formed a close relationship, them considering Ed the son they never had just a year after they’d met. 

The day they met for lunch, Anna’s mother, Mary could see what Ed was planning to do. She tried to tell her husband the second Ed called and made the plans to meet, especially when they found out that Anna wasn’t invited. It wasn’t really a secret, but still Ed was on edge, thinking of what he would do if they happened to say no. 

“Alright,” Mary sighed, just after they received their food and the waitress walked off. She couldn’t hold back any longer, she had to know. 

Ed glanced up, feeling his fingers tingle and his breath catch in his throat. 

“We know why you asked us here, Ed,” she continued, Ed feeling relieved once he noticed a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, the faintest wrinkles sprouting like vines beside her tinted red lips. 

“I just thought this was the formal thing to do,” Ed laughed nervously, wiping his sweaty palms on his legs. 

He cleared his throat, trying to recall the rehearsed conversation he had with himself over and over in his bathroom mirror. 

“The minute I met your daughter, I knew she was the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with,” he started, spilling his heart out onto the table in front of him. He didn’t want to be sappy, but he knew he meant every single word, and if he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. He could hardly finish his entire speech before Mary was in tears, cutting him off with the wave of her hand, jumping up from her seat and grabbing Ed into a tight hug. 

Joe stood and Ed reached out his hand to shake his, instead finding himself pulled into a firm embrace, his back vibrating at the solid pat Joe gave him. 

“Welcome to the family, son,” he smiled, feeling overjoyed that Ed would be the one to marry his daughter. 

Ed’s chest felt as if it would split in two then, feeling so much love and respect for Anna’s parents. His eyes welled up but he quickly whisked away the tears, finding his chin quivering as he said his appreciation to the both of them, admitting that all he had to do then was ask their daughter for her hand. 

Ed did his research, but after reading countless stories about how men had proposed to their girlfriends over dinner, or at a concert, or at a memorable spot, he knew he wouldn’t only make the actual proposal special, he would make the day special in its entirety. 

Anna found two more notes as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. One was stuck to the last step of the stairs and she skipped over it, bending to pick up the little pink note. 

‘I love the way you skip the last step,’ 

She shook her head and laughed, a chill inching up her spine as she read it, holding the note close to her chest. It was true; she always did skip the last step on the stairs, and she hadn’t realized it until just then. It was sort of a game she and her younger sister Emma would play, and it ended up sticking after all those years. They would skip down the stairs in their childhood home, each of the girls daring each other to jump over the last one. The first time, Anna was only six and her younger four year old sister ended up spraining an ankle, but year after year the girls still kept up with the routine, just a silly little game turned into an everyday habit she didn’t know she had until Ed wrote it out. 

He planted plenty of them, so many that he ran out of Post-Its. Aside from the ones she’d already found, there was one on the coffee maker, one in the cupboard where he knew she’d need to get a mug, and on her favorite mug itself. He’d even thought to put one on the jug of milk in the fridge. He mentally took himself through her routine and accompanied a little note at each spot she might go, expressing in each location that he loved those little things about her. 

Anna found herself with tears in her eyes by the time she sat with her coffee, realizing just how lucky she was to have a guy like Ed. She arranged the Post-It’s she’d gathered from the kitchen, a pastel rainbow of pink and purple stuck to the granite counter top in the shape of a square, and photographed them with her phone to send the picture to Ed. 

“You’re the sweetest thing in the world,” she said, her eyes blurred and mouth quivering, “how did I get so lucky?”

She sniffled back the tears and awaited his response, leaning against the counter on her elbows. 

It was still early, hardly after seven thirty, and she took her time sipping her coffee, scrolling through her phone to kill a bit of time before she had to leave for work. She couldn’t help but wonder what Ed’s reasoning was behind the little notes. Part of her assumed it was just because he wanted to show he cared, but the other part of her was smarter than that, and as she sat with her mug in her hand, the coffee cooling, it suddenly dawned on her that her mother was being especially strange the past few days, calling twice more that week than she normally would, and pressing to know if anything had changed. 

Anna quickly grabbed her phone, checking the calendar just to be sure she hadn’t missed their anniversary, even though she knew the date, she had to rule it out. Of course it wasn’t, and she let out an anxious sigh, finding her heart rate pick up as she hovered her thumb over her mother’s number. 

As much as she wanted to ask her mother about what Ed was up to, she knew it wouldn’t be right and that it would ruin whatever surprise he was planning, so she locked her phone and wandered back upstairs, slapping her hands down against her thighs when she spotted another purple note placed on her toothbrush; she hadn’t seen it when she came in to shower. 

‘I love the way you brush your teeth – is that weird?’ 

She laughed at the thought of Ed admiring her while she brushed her teeth. Even if it was a bit creepy, it was sweet, and she knew he meant it in good fun. But now she knew she would be self-conscious about the way she brushed, already paying careful attention to how she did. 

After her teeth were brushed she reached into the lower cabinet for her makeup bag, finding yet another pink note stuck to it. 

‘I love you just the way you are, with or without makeup (but more so without cos you’re pretty)’ the words shrunk down in an awkward slant since he’d nearly run out of room on the small note and Anna shook her head with a chuckle. 

“Idiot,” she said out loud. 

She cherished every single one of those notes, and whether they were simple or heartfelt, she knew she’d keep all of them forever. Her phone buzzed as she emptied her makeup bag and she smiled widely at Ed’s name flashing across the screen, quickly swiping to read the message. 

“I should ask you the same question, love.” 

Anna began to type but quickly erased the text when three little gray dots within a conversation bubble appeared and began fading on the screen, indicating that he was typing. 

“And I really wish I could see you right now.” 

Without a single thought she opened the camera, snapping a quick photo of herself of her blowing him a kiss, cringing at the cliché of it and knowing they would joke about it later. 

“Wish I could babe, but I’m off to find more notes,” she sent with it, “you’ve created a monster. I hope you know you’re going have to do this from now on because it turns out I’m super egotistical and love reading what you love about me.” 

She laughed at her response, knowing he would as well, putting down her phone and finishing up her makeup and straightening her hair. When she was headed back down the stairs she made note to skip over the last one, smiling when she did.

***

Anna went into work that day in as good a mood as she thought she could possibly be in, or ever had been in. She walked through the doors with a wide smile, nodding to and greeting the coworkers she passed on her way to the teacher’s lounge.

It was just after eight when she wandered in, which was late, considering the school day began at nine. She taught first graders, and she loved her job, each day she looked forward to seeing the kids, even if sometimes they were hard to handle.

“Someone’s in a good mood today,” Jen pointed out. 

She was one of the younger teachers who Anna had become close to, and they would probably consider each other best friends. 

“I don’t know what Ed is up to, but look what he did this morning,” she smiled, pulling her phone out of her pocket and finding the photo she’d taken of the Post-It notes.

She angled the phone to Jen, who took it upon herself to grab it to examine the photo, zooming in with the pinch of her finger and thumb to read the little notes.

“He left those all over the house,” Anna clarified, unable to stop gleaming.

“Oh my God,” Jen trailed, feeling almost sick to her stomach with how considerate and romantic it was, “how is he real? And where the hell did you find him?”

Anna laughed, shaking her head, “I guess I just got lucky. I wish I knew what it meant, though, because guys, even guys like Ed, don’t do this kind of thing out of the blue.”

Jen shrugged, handing the phone back before gathering up the curriculum she’d been working on before Anna came into the room. 

“You never know,” Jen said, “I mean we both know Ed, he’s a romantic, it’s not unlike him. Remember that time he sent you white roses for no reason?”

With a light laugh and a wide smile Anna nodded, “Yeah, but that’s a lot different than something like this.”

Although Jen had a feeling what Ed was getting at, she didn’t want to get Anna’s hopes up if he wasn’t going to propose, so she just smiled and nodded, giving her friend the last word before they each headed for their own classrooms to get settled, just ten minutes before they’d be expecting students.

By midday while she was out with Jen for lunch at a small cafe, Ed texted her. She almost dropped her phone when she went to grab it, Jen leaning forward across the table to peek at what he’d said.

Anna waved her hand to send her back to her seat, her eyes glued the screen.

“He said he’s sending a ride for me after school,” she told Jen, raising her gaze enough to see Jen smirking behind her straw, “he’s up to something.”

“Maybe he’s taking you on a vacation,” Jen laughed, taking a final bite of her sandwich.

“No, he knows I can’t take time off right now,” she stared down at the message, a little flutter of nerves returning to her belly when she hovered her thumb over the text field to respond.

The two finished up their lunch and headed back to the school, Anna finding herself anxiously checking the clock every ten minutes awaiting that high pitched shrill of the last bell of the day.

To say that she was nervous would be an understatement. After that last bell, Anna walked Jen to her car, not seeing the car Ed had told her about. 

“Call me when you can and let me know what the hell he’s up to,” she said, having to raise her voice over the students rushing around the school yard. 

“Trust me,” Anna nodded, another smile easing its way over her mouth, “I will.”

She sent Ed a text, letting him know she was out of work and waiting, and he replied with a simple smiley face, nothing more, and nothing less. It made her stomach flip.

***

The car he’d planned hadn’t shown up until the school yard and lot was almost empty. Anna called and texted him two more times before she decided to just drive home, but he deterred her, promising that the car would be there when it was supposed to be. 

Anna saw a black SUV cut around the corner and she recognized it as one Ed would use while he was being driven around, given that he still didn’t drive himself. She smiled with the shake of her head, sending a quick text to Jen to let her know the car had finally arrived.

The driver hopped out before Anna could step forward and he came around the back to open the door for her. 

“Thank you,” she said to him, “you didn’t have to do that.”

With a smile he nodded toward the seat and Anna climbed in, settling in while he closed the door and hurried around to the driver’s side.

Ed hadn’t texted anything back, even though Anna was sure to let him know she was in the car, and for a moment she felt uneasy, realizing that she’d just climbed into a car with a stranger, and without even knowing the driver’s name.

After another minute or so, Ed answered her, letting her know it was fine and that the driver knew exactly where to go. She still wasn’t sold on the idea, and just to give her peace of mind, Ed called the driver and asked to put him on speaker phone.

“Can you hear me, love?” he spoke, his voice echoing through the speakers in the car.

“Yes, I can hear you,” Anna smiled, a rose-colored blush painting her cheeks.

“You’re in good hands, I promise you.”

The driver smiled toward her in the mirror and ended the call after Ed and Anna exchanged goodbyes. She felt more comfortable then and although she knew he probably wouldn’t tell her, she leaned forward and asked the driver where they were headed.

“You know I can’t tell you that,” he said with a smirk and Anna nodded.

“It was worth a try, though, right?”

It’d been more than a half hour of driving and Anna was growing anxious. While they drove, she was texting Jen and her sister the itinerary and filled her younger sister in on what Ed had done earlier that day. It worked in Ed’s advantage that not many people knew of his plan, so Anna was left with her thoughts and her guesses, staring out the window trying to piece it all together.

When the car came to a stop, they were at a venue Anna recognized as the one where she’d first gone with Ed to see him play. They’d met outside of his job and hers, at a party through a mutual friend, but the first show he invited her to before they were even officially dating, was the venue she was standing outside of then. She felt her heart pick up in her chest, her thumbs trembling while she texted Jen where he’d brought her.

‘Walk through the main doors,’ Ed texted Anna the second she stepped out of the car.

The driver closed the door behind her, leaving her standing in the lot alone while he waited in the car. He smiled to Anna when she turned over her shoulder, nodding for her to trust Ed’s instructions.

With a heavy stomach she went forward, a part of her surprised when she found the door unlocked and the lobby completely vacant. 

‘Follow the Post-Its,’ he texted again, right after she’d lifted her eyes from the phone and saw a little pink note stuck to the dark and vacant box office window. She peeled it off, her hand trembling and her eyes filling with a mist she tried to fight.

‘From day one…’ it read and she carried on walking, finding another a few feet away, ‘I have loved you.’

The venue lobby was a long walk and she crept through the empty corridor, the red and gold carpet soft beneath her feet while she walked along, part of her trying to admire the beauty in the architecture and the other part of her trying to focus on finding Post-Its.

She walked a few more paces, not seeing any more notes, and as she was about to send Ed another message, one came into view, flapping against the soft rush of air from a vent overhead. She peeled it off, sticking it to the other two in a layer, building up her own pad of little notes.

‘From day one,’ it read and she smiled as she picked up her pace, spotting another pink paper around the corner, ‘I knew you were the one.”

It hit her like a ton of bricks and suddenly her chest felt heavy. Her throat turned to sandpaper as her hand came up to shield her mouth, seeing a set of doors that she knew led to where the stage and floor was.

‘Behind these doors,’ the first one read and she peeled it off, revealing another beneath it, ‘is someone who loves you…and who,’ tears pooled her eyes as she took the two notes and stuck them to the others, a third note and final note stuck to the doors, ‘wants to spend eternity with you.’

Her heart was pounding out of her chest and she took all the notes she’d collected and pushed open the doors, her breathing hitching in her throat at the sight before her.

Ed was stood in the center of the floor, surrounded by a sea of lit candles, white and red rose petals littering the concrete between them and a neat aisle clear for Anna to walk to him. The only light in the room was from the nearly hundreds of little flames and her eyes gleamed from being misted over, her chin quivering at the sight of Ed smiling warmly, his hands folded in front of him.

“Hi darling,” he said, shifting his weight to his right foot, his blue eyes visible in the soft light while his orange hair hung low over them.

As much as she wanted to run forward, Anna couldn’t move her legs. She wiped her eyes, still with the Post-It notes in her fist.

Ed waved her down and she forced a laugh through the tears stuck in her throat, inching toward Ed with wet cheeks glistening from the candlelight.

With a smile, Ed tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear and ran his thumb over her cheek, leaning forward to press his lips to the curve under her eye. He looked down, gathering her hands in his while Anna looked up and around, seeing the somewhat small venue dark and empty, with the exception of the two of them.

“How did you do this?” she asked, her voice cracking with an echo.

He shook his head, “Don’t worry about that,” he told her, clearing his throat before beginning what he’d been planning for weeks.

“Anna,” he started, smiling while he stared straight into her eyes, a tickle teasing his throat, “from the moment we met, I knew that I couldn’t live without you,” his face straightened while his eyes darted over hers, “I knew even before we sat at that bar together well after the show that you were the one,” he gestured toward the bar nestled toward the left of them, the stools standing still and dark, the wooden counter top shining from the flames on the candles like little shooting stars.

Anna was in tears then, wanting to bury her face in her hands but Ed’s were still laced with hers, and it wasn’t until she tried to tug away to wipe her eyes that he took her cheeks in both of his and ran his thumbs under them.

“I love you,” he said, “more than anything or anyone on this earth.”

He planted a soft kiss to her forehead and with a half smile he pulled away, reaching into his back pocket in the same instance he lowered to his left knee, propping his right elbow on his right thigh, “Anna,” he said, popping open the small black box and revealing a silver ring, glistening from the dim light and sending shivers up her spine, “will you marry me?”

Anna’s world stood still for a brief second and all she could feel was her heart pounding against her ribs. She nodded before she could stall any further, forcing a choked ‘yes’ out of her throat.

Ed smiled as wide as she’d ever seen him, seeing his blue eyes shine while he stared up at her through the question. He plucked the ring out of the box, carefully reaching for her left hand to slip it on her fourth finger. 

He settled it in place and brought her hand up, closing his eyes when he pressed a warm kiss to her fingers, pulling her into an immediate hug when he pushed to his feet. 

“I love you so much,” Anna cried, resting her chin against his shoulder, feeling her stomach heavy while he held her there amongst the candlelight

Ed pulled away, tears threatening to fall from his eyes as he sniffled, running his hands down her shoulders and arms until he gathered hers back in his, lacing their fingers together.

“You make me so happy,” he told her, a little rasp breaking up his words.

Anna shook her head, gesturing around the room with her eyes, “If I make you happy,” she started, a laugh falling from her throat, “then what does that make me?”

Ed gathered her face in his hands again, resting his thumbs soft over her cheeks, “It makes you my fiancé,” he smiled, just before inching his nose toward hers for acceptance, brushing the slightest bit before he met their lips together in a passionate kiss. He pulled away slow, keeping his eyes on hers and resting his hands at her hips, “and that makes me the luckiest man in the world.”


	2. The Proposal

“How do I look?"

Ed couldn’t accept that he looked good.  No matter how many people came up to him and said the words, he didn’t believe them.  He straightened his tie over and over until it was crooked, sweat beading against his forehead as he exhaled a long breath.  Today was the day. 

“You look like you’re about to throw up,” his brother Matt admitted, slapping him on the arm.

“That makes me feel so much better,” Ed groaned, smoothing his palms over his navy suit jacket, yet again straightening his tie. 

“Bloody hell, son,” his father said, walking over and swatting Ed’s hands away, scolding him as he began properly straightening it for him for about the third time, “now don’t touch it again, it’s fine.”

The night before, Ed promised himself that he would save the tears for when he saw his bride-to-be, but when his father gripped both of his shoulders and looked him in the eye with a gentle smile, he felt his eyes pool.

“I’m proud of you, you know that?” he said, his voice cracking the slightest bit, pulling his son to him.

He always envisioned the day his sons would marry, but he had the feeling that Ed would be the first to do so, whereas his oldest son was more of the dating type and the slightest bit afraid of commitment. 

Ed and his father exchanged a firm hug until Ed pulled away, sniffling and wiping his nose. 

His cousin Murray was fooling around with his own tie and Mike began to tease him, standing beside the door while Murray leant toward a mirror, struggling to make it perfect.  Ed laughed at the sight of him growing frustrated, and even more so once his father wandered over to him and sighed, straightening Murray’s just as he’d done to Ed’s.

It was surreal for Ed to think that in just under an hour he was going to be married, and he looked around the hotel room, seeing his groomsmen gathered together and sharing laughs, all of them dressed in their matching navy suits, orange ties and boutonnieres.  He’d had a difficult time deciding who was to be his best man, and since it was such a close tie, he asked both Stuart and Murray, ecstatic when they both agreed. 

There was a tap at the door and John reached the handle to answer, a wide smile inching over his face once he spotted his wife eagerly waiting to see her youngest son. 

“You look lovely, darling,” John smiled, pulling her into the room with a warm hug and a kiss.

With just minutes before heading to the actual ceremony, Ed stood nearest the large window with his back to the door, turning slowly once he heard his mother’s voice.  All it took was one glance and Imogen cupped her hands over her mouth, tears filling her eyes at the sight of him looking so grown up.

While the men had gotten ready, there was a photographer in the room, capturing every moment, from Ed buttoning up his clean white shirt to when his father fixed his tie.  It seemed second-nature to him then to have a camera in his face, but he couldn’t help but feel that this time it was different.  This time he was more worried about the way he looked, knowing that someday he and his wife would look back on those photos and reminisce together.  He wanted everything to be perfect.

“Hi mum,” he smiled, and Imogen went to him with open arms, Ed having to bend slightly for her to reach his cheeks and kiss his forehead.

Ed had to hold back the tears in his eyes when he saw his mother wiping her own, sniffling while she looked up at her son dressed better than she’d ever seen him dress.  He looked especially handsome in the navy blue suit and one of his late grandfather’s ties to match; the same shade with faint polka dots decorating the fabric.  The final touch to Ed’s attire was his own boutonniere and he knew his mother wanted to be the one to help him with it.

She carefully pinned it to the left side of his jacket, smiling down at his mother’s hands while she fastened the ivory flower just above his heart.  In return, Ed pinned her orange corsage to the blouse over her dress, her hand gently holding his cheek once he’d finished.

***

If one thing was true about them, it was that they weren’t traditional.  They both agreed on having the kind of wedding that each of them would remember, and one that people wouldn’t call ordinary.  Of course like any wedding, it took months to plan, and as important as the big day was for her, Ed was equally as interested in the event planning. 

After weighing so many different things back and forth, the two ultimately decided that they wanted an outdoor wedding, not on a beach, but in the middle of a wide open farm, with an arch made out of wood and long twigs and interlaced with ivory and orange roses.  The aisle leading to the fairy tale arch was lined with the same rose petals, tiny wooden flags sticking out of the vibrant grass that read different messages the closer they’d come to the arch.  Just a few feet away from the grass leading to the arch was a building where the reception would be held, and a conveniently placed door where the wedding party would emerge.

At the very end of the last row of placed seats, a small wooden sign read in white cursive, ‘Ed & Anna’s Happily Ever After starts here,’ and a few paces ahead was another reading, ‘from this day forward..’ and even further, ‘for better or for worse’.

The surrounding trees made the moment especially beautiful, and Ed stood at the tip of the aisle, his mother’s arm interlaced with his at his right elbow, and his father standing on his left.  It wasn’t traditional in his family for the parents to walk the groom, but it was what Ed wanted, especially given how close he was to each of them.  While he walked, the string quartet played an instrumental of Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’, soft and melodic.

A sudden flush of anxiousness filled his chest at the sight of each seat filled with the people he loved most and their eyes on him.  He realized then just how different it felt to be standing in front of nearly a hundred people.  Each of them had quite the guest list, and the sight alone of all of his friends and family sitting before him with smiles plastered over their faces was enough for him to break right then and there.

“You can do this, love,” his mother suddenly whispered, as if she could sense the anxiety in him pooling off his skin. 

Ed smiled down at his mother, and kissed the side of her face, just before he took his first step toward the very start of the rest of his life.

On his way down the aisle with his parents, his closest friends and family gave him warm smiles and supportive nods, Harry Styles being one who quickly reached out and teasingly ruffled his already messy hair.  The gesture alone took some of the edge off and Ed laughed along with the entire crowd when his mother scolded Harry, reaching up to smooth down her son’s hair.

It was quite the star-studded ceremony, and amongst the crowd was Taylor Swift, another friend he held dear to his heart, and she stood with her eyes misted over at the sight of her best friend about to marry one of her newest best friends.  It was a surreal moment to see everyone so close to him there for that reason, and once his mother gently let go of his arm, she planted a teary-eyed kiss to his face, Ed guiding her down to her seat.  John pulled his son into a tight hug and kissed his cheek, just before taking his own seat next to his wife.

Ed stood at the arch, his forehead coating with sweat and it felt strange to think that he was so nervous, given that he was no stranger to having people’s eyes on him, but suddenly it hit him that it wasn’t the same.  His eyes were locked on the end of the aisle, hands folded neatly in front of him, exchanging smiles with each of his friends in the audience. 

The ceremony began and out came Stuart with the Maid of Honor, Anna’s sister Emma on his arm and Ed couldn’t help but smile wide at the sight of him trotting down the aisle with his face stretched into an even wider grin.  It wasn’t until both of his best men were standing next to him that it felt real.  He always knew that he wanted to get married and have a family of his own, but it seemed the day wouldn’t ever come.   

“How you feeling?” Stuart whispered, leaning over enough for Ed to hear.

Ed sighed and nodded the slightest bit, “I’m nervous as shit,” he whispered back, and Stuart reached up, giving his back a firm pat to reassure him.  Murray, Mike and Ed’s brother Matt overheard and each of them laughed, poking at Ed’s side to try and lighten the mood. 

Time seemed to stand still while he was forced to wait at the altar, but finally, after each of the bridesmaids and groomsmen made their way down the aisle, the string quartet began to play ‘In My Life’ by the Beatles, and at the very first note, chills ran through him, the hair rising at the back of his neck and tears pricked his eyes.

And there she was, in the most beautiful flowing ivory gown he’d ever laid his eyes on, everyone rising to their feet at the sight of her with her father on her right arm and her mother on her left.  Ed was gleaming at the sight of her, her left hand holding a gorgeous bouquet of orange and ivory roses, their vibrant green stems pulling the nature aspect of their theme together.  Her brunette hair was half pulled up and curled, the matching veil settled just below.  A warm even smile spread over her lips when she caught sight of Ed at the altar, his hands tightly folded in front of him and his orange hair resembling the very flowers that decorated the arch.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd, or at the altar, Ed quickly whisking away his own tears once his bride-to-be was stood before him, just after she’d handed the bouquet to her sister, the Maid of Honor.

“You look so beautiful,” Ed smiled, swallowing back the lump in his throat at the very sight of her, reaching forward to take her hands in his.

“You clean up nice,” she said back, her brown eyes glistening with a smile, focusing on the only person that mattered to her in that very moment.

Ed could hardly pay any attention to the words being spoken, his hands tightly grasping Anna’s while they stood waiting for the moment they’d exchange their vows.  And when that moment came, Ed gently cleared his throat, still with his hands in hers.

“It’s too hard to think of my life without my other half, my soul mate, the girl who is honest about my wrinkled shirts and messy hair, and the girl who makes me believe in true love.  You’re my best friend, and I promise to always protect you, to be sure the shower stall is clear of any spiders,” he trailed with a smile, Anna and the rest of the audience lightly laughing at his lighthearted joke, “I promise to love you until the end of my life and even beyond that, I promise to kiss the tips of your fingers when you cut them while we cook together.  I promise to keep you warm when you’re cold and make you laugh when you’re feeling sad.  Anna, I never thought my heart could hold as much love as I feel for you, and I vow to love you as much as the first time I said it, to look into your eyes and mean every single word when I call you beautiful.  I promise to keep you forever and always.”

To his surprise, Ed kept his tears to a minimum, and although his eyes glistened, he spoke clearly and showed that he meant each vow.  Anna was quite the opposite, carefully dropping her hands from Ed’s to wipe the saltwater from beneath her eyes with a lighthearted laugh.

“You promised you wouldn’t make me cry,” she smiled, and there was laughter amongst their family and friends, Ed swiping the pad of his thumb under his own eye with a gentle shrug.

“Okay,” she sighed, knowing all eyes were on her.

“Today is the day I marry my best friend,” she started, her voice immediately cracking at the words she knew held so much truth, “I promise that I will love you even with your wrinkled shirts and messy hair.  When you first told me you loved me, I knew you meant it, and I couldn’t ask for a better person to be able to say those words back to.  We’ve been through so many things together, and I promise that I will continue to be there for you, to be your biggest fan and to support you when you need it.  I vow to laugh with you, even if your jokes are incredibly terrible,” she smiled, and Ed glanced down at his feet briefly, “I promise to love you with everything I’ve got, and to take care of you when you’re sick.  I promise to try and be on time, or at least be late with you, because we always are.  Most importantly, I vow to love you unconditionally, forever, until our world turns black.”

They both stood, wiping their eyes, and with Ed’s quivering chin he fought the urge to lean forward and grab her face in his hands right then, but he just smiled, blinking away the tears while he once again joined their hands.

Stuart and Murray got to work and presented the rings, each of them giving Ed a solid pat on his shoulder before heading back to their spots beside him.  The final part of the ceremony carried out and Ed took Anna’s ring in his right hand, his other gently gathering her left hand.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of my eternal love,” Ed began, smiling down at her hand while he gently slid the ring onto her fourth finger, “let it remind you that I am always by your side, and that I give you all that I am.”

Anna then did the same, taking Ed’s left hand in her right, reiterating the promise as she slipped the band on Ed’s fourth finger, symbolically joining the two of them in marriage.

And just like that, the ceremony was over.  The officiant announced the ceremony had concluded, joining his hands in a neat fold in front of him, “Today you have expressed your love for one another through vows and promise, and though you’ve kissed plenty of times, today it is a symbol of your eternal love and seals your vows,” Ed and Anna exchanged smiles, still with their hands laced, “and now it is my duty and pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife.  You may kiss the bride.”

With a quick inhale to calm his nerves, Ed slowly leaned forward, both of their eyes closing once he gently met their lips, their family and friends erupting into applause and whistles and cheers, and even given the noise, each of them could hardly hear a thing except for their own beating hearts.

He tried to remember to not get carried away, and once Anna laughed into his mouth and wrapped her hands around his neck, he pulled away with a smile, raising their hands up with their fingers intertwined. 

Today, they were married, and they walked hand in hand back down the aisle, music playing and people cheering, and it was then that they exchanged smiles and realized that it was the start of something incredibly beautiful.


End file.
